What Are The Chances?
by golden518
Summary: Dudley has growing suspicions about one of his sons. He decides to enlist the help of the only relative that may be able to give him some answers: Harry. Written in Harry's POV so far.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note:** Hello everyone! I began writing this story a while ago. I have recently rediscovered the wonders of FanFiction, as I was suffering from PPDD (Post-Potter Depressive Disorder) having just reread the series for the umpteenth time. And I figured I'd post this chapter. I'll update if people like it!

 **CHAPTER 1**

 _Crack!_

Harry waited until he was absolutely sure his feet were still on the ground before he opened his eyes. Though he had been apparating successfully for over a decade, he still could not get past the feeling of seasickness that overtook him every time he used this most convenient form of wizard transportation. He didn't care what anyone else said; he preferred brooms, floo powder, and even thestral rides to this. However, as his home in Godric's Hollow was over a hundred miles from the Ministry of Magic, he was forced to accept the fact that apparition was indeed the most practical.

Feeling a little disheveled, he straightened his coat collar and began walking up the walkway that led to his house. He pushed open the door and entered his home.

"Daddy!" he heard as he saw a flash of red hair zooming towards him down the hallway. He bent over so that his daughter could jump into his arms.

"Hello Lily," Harry kissed his daughter on the cheek, "how was your day at school today?"

Lily's cheeks instantly turned as red as her hair. "It was…fine." She said sheepishly.

Harry stifled a chuckle. She looked so sweet when she was guilty. As a six-year-old girl, what harm could she really have caused?

"Oh, no. Tell me what you've done Lily."

She looked away from Harry towards the woman that had just come out of the small office into the hall. Ginny met Harry's glance with an amused expression for just a moment before looking back at her daughter. "Tell daddy what you've done." She said sternly.

"Well…I…there were three boys bullying the small muggle boy that lives down the lane. You see, they were much bigger than him and they tried to steal his lunch money. And, well, I didn't mean to but-" It seemed she was too ashamed to finish.

"When the bigger boys had each taken some of the smaller boy's coins, they suddenly found that the coins had mysteriously turned into cockroaches, which all began trying to bite their captors." Ginny finished for Lily.

Again, Harry tried not to laugh. After all, young wizards and witches could not control their magic. He knew this first hand. All those times he had been afraid or angry as a child had caused his magic to occasionally show itself. He and Ginny had knew this might happen when they had decided to send their children to muggle primary school. They wanted their children to grow up accustomed to both wizard and muggle culture.

"Lily," Harry began calmly, "I'm pleased that you wanted to defend the small muggle boy, but you must be careful not to use magic. It was only bugs this time, it could have been something far more dangerous to the bullies."

"I knooow." Lily said in a sing-song voice. "I'm sorry. Can I go call the boys now that Dad is home?"

"Okay, but wait for me in the sitting room and I will help you." Ginny said. Harry lowered his arms so that Lily could hop out of them and skip down the hall towards the sitting room. "Don't you touch that floo powder until I'm there!" She added threateningly.

"Are they at the burrow then?" Harry asked.

"Yes, playing Quidditch with their cousins."

"I think James is showing some promise," Harry said fondly. "Maybe we will have ourselves a Griffindor house player in a couple of years."

"Yes, perhaps, but Harry listen to me," Ginny began. "A letter from Dudley has arrived for us today."

Harry was taken aback. "Dudley Dursley? My cousin?" It had only been a couple of months since their last visit. Harry and Dudley made it a point to visit with each other twice per year so that their children could spend time with each other.

"Yes." Said Ginny. "You will be quite interested to read this. Come on." She led him to her office. Ginny was the Quidditch columnist for the _Daily Prophet_ , and her home office was littered with scraps of parchment, old quills, and empty bottles of ink. She walked over to the desk and snatched up a folded piece of paper and handed it to Harry.

He looked at the letter. He instantly recognized Dudley's messy handwriting.

 _Harry,_

 _I'll have to write this quickly. I don't want Amelia to see it. I'm writing because I was wondering if perhaps you and Ginny could come to my house next Sunday, October 12, for lunch. Amelia has offered to chaperone the twins' weekend trip to London for their school. There will be no need to bring James, Albus, and Lily. I have some questions for the two of you. I would appreciate this favor, and I apologize for the secrecy, but I don't want to worry Amelia if I don't have to. I hope to see you Sunday._

 _-Dudley_

Harry looked up at Ginny. "What in the world could he possibly be on about?" Ginny shrugged and she looked just as perplexed as he felt.

"No idea." She said. "And why would he want us to come when Amelia is out with the twins? Doesn't that mean that Joseph will still be there?"

Dudley had married a kind woman by the name of Amelia who bore no resemblance in looks or personality to the Dursleys. They had three children. Twins boys the same age as Harry's son James, and another son, Joseph, who was Lily's age.

"Yeah," said Harry. "I thought about that too. Well, Joseph is a quiet kid and usually keeps to himself anyways." He said thoughtfully. "Well, I suppose we had better go and see what he is on about."

Ginny nodded and then the two of them headed to the sitting room where Lily was waiting near the fireplace. She jumped up as her mother approached her.

" _Incendio_." Ginny said as she pointed her wand at the empty fireplace. At once, flames shot up. Harry watched as his wife and daughter knelt facing the blazing fire. Ginny grabbed a handful of powder that sat in a tin on the mantle and threw it into the fire, which instantly turned a bright shade of emerald. She and Lily stuck their heads in the flames.

"JAMES! ALBU—oh, hello grandma!" Harry could hear Lily say.

"Hi, mum." Ginny said. "Could you fetch the boys for me? It's time for dinner. Yes, yes I remember it's dad's birthday next week. Don't worry, we will all be there."

"Can't wait, grandma! I will see you and granddad next week!" Lily said as she lent backwards out of the fire and left the sitting room.

"Oh, and mum," Ginny continued. "Could you take the kids on Sunday? Harry and I are visiting his cousin, Dudley. Yes, thank you. I will send them to your fireplace Sunday morning." She bade her mother goodbye and lent back. A moment later, their two sons toppled out of the fire.

"Hi mum, hi dad!" They said as they hurried past their parents and into the kitchen.

Harry pulled over to the curb and shifted the car into park. He and Ginny had also decided when they sent their children to muggle school, that they should both learn how to drive muggle cars and obtain muggle driver's licenses. They got out and walked up the walkway to the front door of Dudley Dursley's house. They rang the bell and waited.

A large blonde man opened the door. Dudley had lost much of the excessive weight he had obtained throughout his teen years, but was still wider than the average man. Dudley and Ginny kissed on the cheek and then Dudley turned to shake Harry's hand. "Thanks for coming. Amelia just left with the twins half an hour ago."

"Any time, Dud." Harry said as he walked through the door and into Dudley's sitting room. It bore obvious differences to his and Ginny's. It was clean, non-cluttered, and was devoid of any magical objects that may reside in any wizarding family's home.

Perhaps Amelia's only resemblance to her mother-in-law Petunia was her knack for cleanliness.

Instead of floo powder atop Dudley's fireplace mantle, there were photos. Of Dudley and Amelia's wedding day, of their three children, of Amelia's parents and siblings, and one of Petunia and Vernon—looking like they just ate something sour, as usual. There was even a photo of Harry, Ginny, and their three children. Stationary, because it was taken with a muggle camera of course.

Harry and Dudley over the years had put their differences aside and had become something akin to friends. Harry had seen his aunt and uncle exactly once since they parted ways for the last time at Number 4 Privet Drive all those years ago, at Dudley's wedding. To say things between them were still icy cold would have been an understatement.

After the victory at the Battle of Hogwarts, Dudley sought out Harry and the first thing out of his mouth was a sincere apology for how he had treated him throughout their childhood. They had been friendly ever since.

As Dudley ushered Ginny and Harry to the sofa, Harry saw a small tuft of blonde hair peep out from behind a door to the adjacent room.

"Hello there, Joseph!" Harry called to his (for a lack of a better word) nephew, and the small child walked shyly into the room. He came over so Ginny could kiss him on the cheek and then skipped away back to the other room.

Harry waited for Joseph to be out of earshot before turning to Dudley. "So why all the secrecy, Dudley?" he asked. "What can we do for you?"

"Well…" Dudley seemed not to know where to begin.

Ginny and Harry exchanged curious glances.

"It's about Joseph." He stated cautiously.

Harry did not know what to make of this. "What do you mean? Is he in trouble, is there something wrong with him?"

Dudley was silent for a moment. "Well, no. Not something _wrong_." He said evasively.

"Dudley," Ginny began. "We don't understand what you are talking about. If there is nothing wrong then why do you look so concerned?"

"Well, I suppose there is something," he paused for several moments "…unusual going on with him. Amelia is afraid but I have different opinions about the matter."

"What the bloody hell are you on about?" said Harry. "Spit it out, will you?"

Dudley still wore a hesitant expression on his round face. "Harry, you were about Joseph's age when things started happening, right?"

When Harry did not respond, Dudley continued. "You know, like that thing where you ended up on the roof at school, and your hair grew back overnight?"

Harry gaped at Dudley. "Are you saying what I think you're saying, Dud?"

Dudley looked slightly embarrassed now. "Well, I don't want to jump to conclusions. I can't be sure. That's why I asked you and Ginny here today. There have been— _things_ —that have happened." He trailed off.

"What kind of things?" Ginny asked interestedly.

"They began a couple of months ago. At first Amelia and I just attributed them to strange coincidences. However, they have become more frequent. For example, last week the twins were watching television and Joseph asked them to change the channel so that he could watch his favorite program. They refused and told him that as they were older, they automatically got to pick the program they would all watch. Joseph seemed really frustrated and then, the television screen went blank and then when the picture came back, it was the program that Joseph wanted to watch. The remote control had been on the table, out of everyone's reach. The twins angrily grabbed it to change the channel back, but the channel would not change. Only after Joseph's program was finished did the television go back to perfectly working order."

Dudley said all of this very fast and then looked skeptically at Harry and Ginny.

"And then just yesterday," he continued, "the twins had locked Joseph in a closet and refused to let him out. I scolded them, sent them to their room, and then went to let Joseph out myself, but as I was about to unlock it for him, the door completely vanished and he ran past me. Luckily Amelia wasn't there to see that one because I don't really know how we could have called it a _coincidence_."

Harry was still speechless.

Dudley pressed on when Harry had still not replied. "All I could think of was that time you made the glass disappear at the zoo all those years ago." He finished.

He looked expectantly at Ginny and Harry.

Ginny was the first to break the silence. "Well, I don't think you need us to tell you this Dudley, but I think it is pretty clear that Joseph is a wizard."

Dudley suddenly looked very uneasy. "How can we be sure? I can't tell Amelia until we are sure. She still knows nothing about your world."

Harry seemed to find his voice then. "Joseph!" he shouted "please come back, we want to speak with you!"

Joseph appeared a moment later and then Harry stood up and took his hand. "Come on, let's go to the kitchen and get a drink." Harry led him into the kitchen, a perplexed Ginny and Dudley following in his wake.

He poured a glass of water for Joseph and then walked towards the boy. He intentionally 'tripped' and dropped the glass of water.

No shatter came.

A second later the glass was in Joseph's hands, though he had been standing halfway across the room. He looked just as surprised as anyone to find it there.

His eyes the size of quaffles, Joseph turned to his father, who mirrored his expression. Ginny beamed at them from the doorway.

"That settles it, I think." Harry said.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Sorry for the **very** long wait for Chapter 2. I have been incredibly busy but I've finally posted it. I hope you enjoy it! Please let me know what you think!

* * *

 **CHAPTER 2**

"No way!" Ron exclaimed. "You have _got_ to be kidding me!" He and Harry were in the lift at the Ministry on the way to their offices in the auror headquarters the following day. Harry had just finished telling Ron the news about Dudley's son.

"I know!" Harry said, just as animatedly. "Trust me, I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it for myself."

"Are you sure your mum's parents were muggles? I mean, they produced your mother, a witch if there ever was one, and now their great grandson also seems to have the magical gene."

"They were definitely muggles." Harry said. "Or else Petunia and Dudley would have been magical as well, wouldn't they?"

"I suppose." Admitted Ron. "Do you think that Amelia could be a witch and has just kept it from Dudley, just like he's kept his awareness from her?"

"Interesting theory, but I don't think so. If that were the case, then Dudley's older sons would be wizards as well. And Dudley is certain that they've never shown signs of being able to do magic."

"You're right. It's just weird! I mean, what are the chances that two wizards could come from the same family of muggles?" Ron continued.

"Well, remember the Creeveys? They were both muggleborn wizards and they were even brothers! I suppose it is rare, but it can happen." Harry pointed out.

"Yeah." Ron agreed. "I still say it's odd. But wait till your aunt and uncle find out! What are they gonna do?

"I don't think Dudley plans on telling them." Harry said. "He knows better than that. They would disown him and his children."

They had arrived at the auror headquarters and walked over to their respective cubicles. When they sat down at their desks, they turned to face each other.

"Has he told Amelia yet?" Ron asked.

"No, Ginny and I have invited the whole family over to our house next weekend so that we can help him explain it to her." Harry explained. "And prove to her that magic is real, if she wont believe him." He added as an afterthought.

"Yeah that's probably best." Ron agreed. "Well good luck with that."

They turned back to their desks and began the day's work.

* * *

As Saturday evening grew nearer, Harry and Ginny grew more anxious about their approaching meeting with Dudley and his family. What would they say to Amelia? Harry did not know how to broach the subject, having never delivered the news to a muggle that the magical world existed.

Therefore, Saturday afternoon found Harry and Ginny silently preparing a steak and kidney pie in their kitchen, awaiting the arrival of their relatives. They had packed away their brooms, sneakoscope, and all other magical objects they could think of. They had stowed their wands. They had instructed those in the various portraits and photos around their house to keep still and quiet whilst the Dursleys were here.

Harry knew that he had nothing to worry about concerning the behavior of his three children. Sending them to muggle primary school had ensured their ability to behave normally in front of muggles.

When Harry and Ginny had returned home after their visit to Dudley's house, they had sat their children down to break the news of their cousin's magical abilities. Expectedly, James and Al had been surprised to hear the news. Surprisingly, Lily had responded by shrugging and giving her parents a look that plainly said, "Well, obviously."

Lily then explained about the countless times that Joseph had demonstrated his extraordinary gifts. The most recent of which involved Joseph's hasty and impossible repair of his mother's antique teapot after he dropped it. The teapot had shattered, but according to Lily, had instantly repaired itself not a moment after it hit the floor.

"And he hadn't realized I'd seen." Lily finished. "I think he thought he was going mad," she had added as an afterthought.

"He's not mad, Lily," Ginny had said reproachfully. "He is just magical, like us."

Harry, Ginny, and the children gathered in the sitting room at 6 o'clock, the time at which they were expecting Dudley and his family to arrive.

On cue, the doorbell rang and Harry jumped up to answer the door. There on the doorstep stood Dudley, more nervous than ever, a thin sheen of sweat glistening above his eyebrows. Amelia stood next to him, her auburn hair curled and falling lightly on her shoulders, her kind brown eyes curious.

"Dudley," Harry said shaking his cousin's clammy hand, "and Amelia, so good to see you," he said, embracing her.

"And Henry and Owen, how are—" he could not even finish his sentence as two boys with light brown hair darted under their mother's arm and ran to James and Al, who greeted them enthusiastically.

"And there's Joseph." Harry beckoned him to come inside. He looked more apprehensive than his father, which was saying something. Harry squeezed his shoulder reassuringly and was about to offer him words of comfort when Lily came up behind him.

"Come on, Joseph," Lily said taking his hand. "You can come sit by me." She led him over to the couch she had occupied a moment ago.

"Please, make yourselves at home!" Ginny told everyone. "I'll go get us some tea."

She returned not a minute later carrying a tray laden with saucers and a teapot full of piping hot tea, and set it on the coffee table. She sat down next to Harry, so that they were facing Dudley and Amelia. They exchanged pleasant small talk of the goings on of their lives for several moments as the children all talked amongst themselves.

"Well, I am pleased to see you all, but I must admit I was surprised to receive an invitation for dinner at your house, may I ask what the occasion is?" Amelia said.

The room seemed to go silent as Harry's children and Joseph all looked up with interest, knowing what was coming.

"Well…" Harry started. He looked at Dudley for support. Amelia was too clever not to notice the exchange.

"Dudley?" She now faced him. "Do you know why they've asked us over tonight?"

Dudley did not answer right away but gave his wife a very sheepish look.

"Well?" She prompted, talking to the room at large, "will someone please tell me what is going on here?"

"It's about Joseph, dear." Dudley said quietly.

"What?" she exclaimed, shocked. "Do you mean to tell me…I thought we had agreed that we wouldn't…Dudley, this is a private family matter."

"It's not what you think, Amelia!" Dudley defended. "They can help us."

"Excuse me? Did you tell them what's been going on with Joseph lately?"

This had even shut up the twins, who though rambunctious, were now gaping silently at their parents, surely remembering the times they had witnessed the odd things that happened when Joseph was around.

"Yes, but—"

"Dudley!" Amelia scolded. She turned to face Harry and Ginny. "I'm so sorry, you must think me very rude. I don't know what Dudley has told you, but I assure you, Joseph is fine, and we are addressing the problem. We were planning to take him to a doctor in London soon so he could—"

"He does not need a doctor." Piped in Albus. James nodded.

Amelia's eyes grew wide. "You've even told the children?" she rounded on Dudley.

"Amelia, he's not mad, and we can explain everything that's been going on—" he said.

"We? No, I thought we made our decisions together, Dudley, but I can see that I am just making a fool of myself. Come on, children, we're leaving."

She stood up and walked towards the door to the sitting room. The Potters, Dudley, and Joseph started to shout protests, when they were interrupted by—

"ACHOOO!"

Amelia stopped dead in her tracks, sure her eyes and ears were playing tricks on her. Certainly the photo of the elderly man on the wall in front of her had not just sneezed. She suddenly wondered whether she was even madder than her son.

"Excuse me," said the photograph of Albus Dumbledore mounted on the wall, his eyes twinkling. "So sorry."

Amelia turned, dumbfounded, back to face the room. Her twin sons mirrored her expression.

"We can explain that too," said Harry softly. "Will you please come back and let us tell you everything?"

Amelia glided back to the sofa and took a seat, nodding for Harry to continue.

"I'm a wizard. My wife is a witch. Our three children are also magical. And so is Joseph."

It was silent for an indefinitely large amount of time. Finally Amelia broke the silence.

"What do you mean?" she peeped.

Well, at least she was taking this seriously, thought Harry. And she didn't run away in terror or accuse him of being mental.

"It's true, dear." Dudley finally spoke up again. "I've known about this since I was eleven years old, when Harry was told he was a wizard and sent off to a school for magic."

He and Harry dove into the story of all the strange things that happened when Harry was a child, how Vernon and Petunia had hidden it from them both, how Hagrid had burst down the door and delivered the news. How Harry had gone away to Hogwarts and developed his magical skills. They left out the part about Voldemort, the Death Eaters, and the rest of Harry's dangerous adventures. Why scare Amelia unnecessarily? The wizarding world had been peaceful since the end of the Battle of Hogwarts.

"So," Amelia spoke slowly when they had finished, "all the strange things that Joseph can do, are because he is a wizard and can do magic?"

"Yes," said Harry breathily, grateful that she was keeping up.

"I, I don't believe that, it's impossible!" she said in a scandalized tone.

"It's not." Said Ginny. "The photograph spoke to you, remember?"

Dumbledore winked at them from across the room.

"There must be a computer screen in that frame." Amelia said nervously. "You are all pulling my leg, but I don't understand why you would go to such lengths for a joke."

"You can all talk and move again," said Ginny loudly to no one in particular. At once, the several portraits around the room began stretching sleepily and talking quietly amongst themselves.

"You must have multiple computer screens around the room." Amelia said, as though trying to convince herself.

"My dear lady," the photo of Dumbledore piped up again "regrettably I do not know what a computer screen is, but I can assure you that I am not one."

Amelia only closed her eyes and shook her head, looking queasy.

"Amelia, would you like a glass of water, you are looking faint." Ginny offered, concernedly.

Amelia opened her eyes again just in time to see Ginny pull her wand out of her pocket and conjure a crystal goblet out of thin air and catch it. " _Aguamenti_ " she murmured, pointing her wand at the goblet.

She walked it over to a stunned Amelia and handed it to her.

"Well, alright." Amelia finally admitted after gulping down the water. "But honestly, how was I to know that this was all possible?"

"I know, I know," Ginny said gently as she patted her on the back. "It's a lot to take in, but unlike other muggleborns, Joseph has magical relatives and we will help him and you become acclimated to our world."

"Pardon me, muggleborns?"

"Sorry, I mean children with nonmagical parents. That's what we call them."

"I guess I have a lot to learn." Amelia said.

"Well don't worry, because we will be here to help with anything you need." Harry assured her.

At that moment, the fireplace was suddenly ablaze and Hermione's face appeared in the flames. Her content expression instantly morphed into one of horror as she took in the scene around her.

She smacked her forehead. "Oh dear, are you doing it now? I'm so, so sorry. I'll come back later." She made to turn around.

"Wait! Hermione!" Harry stopped her. "Come back, we've already told them, and Amelia could use the support from you right now I think, being a muggleborn. You can tell her about your experience."

Hermione nodded at him, then leaned back and vanished. A second later, her entire body toppled out of the fireplace. She stood up, flattened down her mass of curly brown hair, and brushed the soot from her clothing. She smiled warmly at Dudley and then stuck out her hand to shake Amelia's.

"I'm Hermione Weasley. We met at Harry and Ginny's wedding. Pleasure to see you again!" She said kindly.

As she and Amelia talked, and the children all resumed playing with each other, Harry and Ginny stood up and walked to the kitchen. Dudley followed them.

"I think that went well, all things considered," said Ginny.

"Yeah," agreed Harry, "And no doors were bashed down and no one was given a pig's tail." He said grinning at Dudley.

Failing to grimace at Harry, Dudley starting laughing reminiscently with him. After all, he thought, it could have been worse.


End file.
